Former Indian batsman-turned-expert analyst Aakash Chopra has proposed that wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul take the No. 4 spot for Lucknow Super Giants during IPL 2024 if he wants to participate in the upcoming 20-team ICC T20 World Cup. 2024 at the end of this June.
Although KL Rahul will be part of the indian team that will be welcome England For a 5-match Test series on January 25, the Bengaluru-born cricketer was completely left out of the squad for the Men in Blue T20I series against Afghanistan, which the hosts won 3-0.
The Indian management came to rely on Jitesh Sharma to keep the wickets and bat in the middle order. He raised questions about whether Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid look beyond KL Rahul and sidelined wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan for the T20 World Cup in the US and the West Indies.
With less than 6 months left for the mega event, it will be interesting to see who makes the final cut and it could all depend on the Indian Premier League which is scheduled to start from March. And if KL Rahul wants to feature in the XI, Aakash Chopra believes he will have to take the No. 4 spot.
During the previous edition of the T20 WC in 2022, Rahul would open the innings with Rohit Sharma but this time it will not be the case due to the presence of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The latter has claimed the top spot at least in the shortest format and with Virat Kohli at No. 3, KL Rahul has to do well from the middle order.
For that reason, Aakash Chopra believes the 31-year-old should start implementing the change in IPL 2024, where he will be in charge of the Lucknow Super Giants for the third season.
“You might see KL Rahul at number 4. If he wants to play the World Cup, he probably needs to bat at number 4. 4. You might see one between Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni and Prerak Mankad playing at the number 3 spot. They have many options available to get the job done.” – said Aakash Chopra.
Aakash Chopra praises KL Rahul and LSG management for making a good team
After the suggestion of KL Rahul batting at number 4, Aakash Chopra praised the LSG coaching team led by Justin Langer for building a good team around their core members from the past few seasons. He stated that LSG’s depth after number 4 is tremendous and also praised them for exchanging right-arm pacer Avesh Khan for another batsman Devdutt Paddikal.
Chopra concluded by stating that Quinton De Kock will be the match-winner for LSG from the top order and also expressed concern about the same for Kyle Mayers.
“After No. 4, they have Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis and Ayush Badoni along with Krunal Pandya in the order. Suddenly you see a lot of depth in the batting. De Kock has been scoring runs consistently. He has been unstoppable in all formats. I feel like he has come to open the door. If you ask me, I would play against De Kock all season because if he plays 14 games, he will win only 4 or 5.” – Chopra concluded.